Page 77 of Betting on You

I swallowed and forced myself to say it.

“Charlie,” I said, keeping my voice low as I looked behind her for any sign of Scott. “I brought Char—”

“Charlie?”Her eyes got huge and she said, “Are you freaking kidding me?”

“I didn’t know what to do when Nekesa canceled,” I replied, talking fast. “I didn’t—”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, pointing her finger at me as her voice got higher and louder and her mouth tightened. “You have a phone—that I pay for. You should’ve called me. Don’t pretend this was somehow your only option!”

I tried talking in a calm voice. “But Charlie’s my friend and has a reliable car. Is it really that different from Nekesa?”

“Yes!”She crossed her arms and started pacing. “It’s bad enough that you brought a boy—any boy—with you. You’re too smart not to know that would matter. But not only did you bring a boy, you brought the boy that Scott hates on Scott’s vacation—are you kidding me with that?”

“I know,” I said.

“That is seriously rude,” she said, almost yelling. “In addition to everything else that’s wrong with this plan, it is rude and entitled.Oh, I guess they’ll just have to go along with what we want.How can you be so okay with behaving like that?”

My cheeks were hot and I felt like total garbage, because she was right. “I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head fast, pissed off. “Save it for Scott.”

“Where is he, by the way?” I asked, realizing that if Scott were there, her yelling would’ve brought him to the room.

My mom stopped pacing and chewed on the corner of her lip. “He ran to the market.”

I watched her face as she tried working through it, and I hated the twisting guilt I felt at the sight of her jaw clenched.

“I mean, he’s here now—can’t we find a way to make it work?”

She gave her head another angry shake, like she couldn’t believe this was happening. “File that underthings Bailey and Charlie were counting on.”

Not wrong, I thought.

“Okay.” She dropped her arms to her sides and said, “Here’s the plan.You’regoing to get out of here, and I will tell Scott when he gets back.”

“So… do you want us to just wait in the car, then?” I asked.

“Bailey, I don’t carewhereyou wait,” she said, mom-glaring me so hard that I felt her stare in my guilty soul. Her teeth were clenched as she said, “Do you know how mad I am at you right now?”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” I said lamely, wishing there was a way for her not to get hurt by this.

“That means nothing today.” Her eyes roamed all over the condo, like she was looking for an answer, and then she said, “Just go drive around or something.”

“We can do that,” I said, nodding, anxious to please her.

“And then I’ll text you when you’re good to come back,” she said. “Not that I’m looking forward to that enjoyable reunion.”

“I’m so sorry,” I repeated.

“Spare me,” she said, still looking mad but intent on her plan. “Now get out of here.”

I wanted to cry—seriously—because I hated her being mad at me.

Especially when I knew I deserved it. I left, feeling like a trash human, and Charlie was standing behind his car with the trunk open when I crossed the street.

“Hey,” I said.

He looked up and smiled. “Hey.”

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